Review: It’s Tyrannosaurus Rex!

For children who love facts–and a thrill–dinosaurs rule. Learning about these creatures is the perfect pursuit for these youngsters: what other animals are as enormous and terrifying and (conveniently) extinct? It’s no surprise that several apps on these fearsome animals are available. Here’s one from Oceanhouse Media, Inc.

K-3-Join a female Tyrannosaurus rex as she hunts for lunch one day during the Cretaceous period. Will she catch a Quetzalcoatlus? Battle a Triceratops? Or be satisfied with a baby Ankylosaur?

Dawn Bentley’s short book, illustrated by Karen Carr (Soundprints, 2003), has been adapted into a pan-and-zoom picture-book app. Beyond the sound-effect track (flapping wings, volcanic rumblings, roars, etc.) and available narration, the app does not add much to the book–there’s no extra content and the only interactive feature is a tap-to-pronounce-the-name option.

In addition, the text does not acknowledge recent theories that T. rex may not have been so much a hunter as a scavenger, and the dinosaur’s keen eyesight–by no means an accepted fact– is noted twice.

National Geographic’s Ultimate Dinopedia and Britannica Kids: Dinosaurs apps feature more content and more interactivity, are updated with new material, and are more likely to be returned to again and again.–Paula Willey, Pink Me